Russian Margarita Boldyreva won the sprint race at the fourth stage of the Alfa-Bank Commonwealth Biathlon Cup, which takes place in Raubichi (Belarus).

Boldyreva covered the 7.5 km distance in 23 minutes 58 seconds, making one mistake at two shooting ranges.

The second was another representative of Russia, Anastasia Tomshina (lag – 21.2 seconds, 1 miss), the top three was rounded out by Russian Anastasia Khalili (+21.2 seconds, 2 misses).

Later on Friday, the men’s sprint will take place in Raubichi. Watch the live broadcast of the race from 15:20 on the Match TV and Match! Arena”, as well as the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev said that the maximum number of Russian participants in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy will be 13 people.

Previously, invitations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Olympics were accepted by Russian skiers Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva, speed skaters Ksenia Korzhova and Anastasia Semenova, figure skaters Pyotr Gumennik and Adelia Petrosyan, ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov, as well as short track speed skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova.

— A maximum of 13 people will compete at the Olympics. We’ll watch, we’ll definitely be rooting for it. The discussion about neutral status is difficult. As a citizen and a person who sat in the State Duma for 13 years, I understand this. But preventing athletes from performing is wrong. They compete for Russia, bring medals for Russia. And at the same time, we are recovering (at international competitions) with varying degrees of success,” Degtyarev said at the “Knowledge. State”.

The 2026 Olympics will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 6 to 22. The Russians will participate in the competition in a neutral status.

Frenchman Eric Perrault won the shortened individual race at the Biathlon World Cup in the Czech city of Nove Mesto.

He covered 15 kilometers in 36 minutes and 30.6 seconds, working without errors on four firing lines.

Second place was taken by another representative of France, Emilien Jacquelin, who lost 41.8 seconds to the leader (0 penalties). Italian Lukas Hofer was third (+54.1 seconds, 0 penalties).

On Friday, January 23, the women’s shortened individual race of 12.5 km will take place.